Scams Targeting Yacht Charter Businesses

I also have a yacht charter business and just got this email. Good thing I googled the phone number, and only because my mail client put the email in my spam folder. Beware of all these scammers!!!!

This is the email:


From: Robert Fletcher <[email protected]>
Date: October 13, 2010 2:53:54 AM EDT
Subject: Boat booking....

Hello,

Do you have boat available for booking from November 14 - 20 2010.The
number of guest to expect is 6 people.

Get back to me if you have opening for reservation during my stated date.

Warm Regards,

Robert Fletcher
16 Blythswood Square
Glasgow
G2 4HJ
Scotland
+44(0)-703-592-5708

+44(0)-70 is the type of phone number used by scammers.

It looks like a UK phone number but it redirects to another country usually.

If you learn to spot those numbers you'll get a fuller trash can and more spare time, and less chance of losing your hard earned cash to scammers.

are you saying 5000 for setting up the cruise etc etc etc.mine was called a bta( basic traveling allowance)which calling the airlines they never heard of such a thing and the agent probably gets the money .the flight and number were correct but was not paid for yet.strange that no agency name or person name was given to me when i asked.so watch out for the bta scam also because the last time i flew you but the ticket and you fly.they can get info like that all you have to do is get on and say wher you are going from to where you sra going to.call use your naaaaame and post a reservatiom.

Mitchell,

BTA = Basic Travel Allowance. Scammers, usually romance scammers, claim that they must have this much available cash to be allowed to travel. Whenever you see BTA come up, you are dealing with a scam.

This yacht scam is very different. It is an overpayment scam, and is not connected to BTA. The scammer makes a reservation (doesn't have to be a yacht--it can be anything that would reasonably reserved in advance). They then send the victim a (fake) check, or pay in advance with a (stolen) credit card. The scammer pays more than the amount due, and the victim is told to forward the excess money to a travel agent, shipper, whatever the scammer dreams up. In reality, the scammer is collecting the excess money. Of course, eventually the victim will lose the entire amount of the check or credit card when the fake/theft is discovered--but the scammer has disappeared with the cash.

dottie how is this email search site where you pay 15.00 a year is it worth it or does it not find a lot of emails you are actually looking for and you are wasting money?

I'm not sure which site you are referring to--there are many of them out there, but in my experience, they just can't keep up with the number of new emails opened every day, and ultimately aren't worth the money.

Hi,

I'm glad someone post this. I'm going on a vacation soon. I've been looking all over the internet for best deals but not too sure which sites are the legitimate ones. Can someone help? Dont wanna get scammed.

Heartbroken, if you want to be safe, just go to an established travel agency. Most of them have good deals too.

Thanks for listing..."Robert Fletcher". My business is SCUBA tours. After three days of back and forth I get a strange payment arrangement. Googled around and found this site.

Here's my email from "Robert" [email protected]
Hello ,
Thanks for your email and for the total cost for the reservation which you have provided.i have concluded all payment arrangement.
As soon as you receive my card detail for payment,i want you to take the following steps:
A) Make an total charge of $10699.00 + bank charges from my card Detail.
B) Deduct the total deposit of $898.80 needed to secure booking
C) send the balance of $9,800.00 Via bank transfer to the prepaid American travel agent who will handle our traveling logistics which i will advice.
The travel agent is in charge of the procurement of flight tickets of guests to and fro.
However, because agent do not have credit card facility and for security reason,i have decided that ONLY YOU will have to handle the credit card information.
PLEASE CONFIRM IF THIS ARRANGEMENT IS OK.
Awaiting your swift response,
Robert
On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 2:22 AM, Robert Fletcher <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello,
Do you have boat available for booking from March 19 - 25 2011.The
number of guest to expect is 6 people.
Get back to me if you have opening for reservation during my stated date.
Warm Regards,
Robert Fletcher
16 Blythswood Square
Glasgow
G2 4HJ
Scotland
+44(0)-703-592-5708

I also have a yacht charter business and just got this email. Good thing I googled the phone number, and only because my mail client put the email in my spam folder. Beware of all these scammers!!!!

This is the email:


From: Robert Fletcher <[email protected]>
Date: October 13, 2010 2:53:54 AM EDT
Subject: Boat booking....

Hello,

Do you have boat available for booking from November 14 - 20 2010.The
number of guest to expect is 6 people.

Get back to me if you have opening for reservation during my stated date.

Warm Regards,

Robert Fletcher
16 Blythswood Square
Glasgow
G2 4HJ
Scotland
+44(0)-703-592-5708

We were emailed yesterday by the same persons - though with a different name. Dr George Fisch of the Erste Foundation.

My suspicions were immediately raised as we get similar stories at least once a month - some of them are so ridiculous that they are simply laughable, often with names that are totally implausible, ( Fisch for example... Fischer or Fisher might be believable, but Fisch is not a very common name ).

We are a small hotel resort by the sea.

When I googled Erste Foundation I found this website... and excellent idea !

Tough mind and heart equals no scam..Everybody should watch out.

This is the version i received today 14.12.2010
....

Hello,

Do you have boat available for booking from March 19 - 25 2011.The number of guest to expect is 6 people.

Get back to me if you have opening for reservation during my stated date.

Warm Regards,

Robert Fletcher
16 Blythswood Square
Glasgow
G2 4HJ
Scotland
+44(0)-703-592-5708

and its Email address [email protected]

Welcome to Scamwarners kyron.

Note the 44 (0)70 number. It's a redirect number that scammers use to hide their real location and that looks as if they're located in the UK. There's no legitimate reason for an honest person to use one and you can throw it in the trash without looking into it any further.

If you ever get payment from a customer you don't know, never accept instructions to pay part of the money on to a third party. Your concern is always that they're trying to dupe you out of your money when most of these scammers are doing something different. They want to trick you in to laundering stolen money for them, or convert counterfeit cheques into cash. If you don't pay anything on to someone else (who is usually the scammer himself) then you'll not get caught out this way. There's no reason why a customer can't issue two cheques or make two card payments. Involving you in making a payment to a third party is a warning sign of a scammer at work.

I received yesterday the same email as did Firesky quoted above in the Sept 16 entry, only different name and different scam redirected phone numbers:

I want to make a reservation in your facility for four (4) Expertriate
who will be visiting your country for a seven(7)day vacation holiday
in the month of Febuary 2011.Find below my booking details:

Arrival Date : 13 Febuary 2011
Departure Date: 19th Febuary 2011
Number of rooms: 4 singles or 2 doubles .
Types of rooms: standard or deluxe or suite
Number of Nights: 7

Kindly confirm availability and get back to me with the cost so we can make a deposit for

Regards,
Thomas Bonds
Cell +447045722515
Fax: +448447748760

Welcome to ScamWarners DesertFox and 123123 and thank you for posting this current information. Scammers often use the same script or a script the purchase to do their scamming. This could be the reason for differences. It could also be the same scammer using different information. Either way, we appreciate you helping to keep this information current.